Nearly 30,000 people complete suicide in the United States every year. Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death for males and the 19th for females. Much of our knowledge about short-term (12 months or less) risk factors for suicide derives from retrospective studies such as psychological autopsies or mortality follow-back projects. Prospective data on long-term (more than one year) suicide risk factors come chiefly from highly selected groups such as psychiatric hospital inpatients. There are few (if any) population-based prospective studies that provide information about risk factors for suicide in both short term (12 months) and long term (one or more years) time frames. Moreover, there are scant (if any) population-based data that allow for comparison of risk factors for suicide versus those for death by natural causes or mortality due to external factors such as accidents and homicide. Yet this information is important in the identification of target populations for interventions designed to reduce suicide. The proposed small grant project will use secondary analysis of prospective data to identify (a) "short term" risk factors for suicide within 12 months of baseline, (b) "long term" risk factors for suicide more than a year after baseline, (c) short term risk factors for death from natural causes and from external factors (such as accidents or homicides), and (d) long term risk factors for death from natural causes and from external factors. This prospective population-based study will make use of the National Health Interview Surveys, 1986-1994 (NHIS) that have recently been linked to the National Death Index, 1986-1997. The data set will be obtained from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The NHIS is a yearly nationwide household interview (with annual sample sizes of about a hundred thousand) conducted by the NCHS that provides detailed information on demographics, socio-economic status, functional limitations, chronic conditions, the extent of disability, health care utilization, self- assessed health status, and other health-related topics. Supplemental interviews provide data on mental health, disability, and alcohol consumption. This project will focus on cohorts of respondents from 1986 through 1994 (of whom 1,995 completed suicide). Survival analysis will be used to estimate potential years of life gained from interventions designed to reduce short term and long-term suicide risk factors, respectively. The results of this epidemiologic study, will help us better understand proximal and distal suicide risk factors. [unreadable] [unreadable]